Soup Kitchen
by Raekea
Summary: Carter Blake didn't go out of his way to be a kind-hearted or good man, and didn't want people to think he was one. That's why he went to Boston to work in a soup kitchen, where he knew no-one. Or does he? Rated M for a lotta swearing and Slash. Review!
1. The Druggie

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Heavy Rain characters and stuff, yadda yadda.

Soup Kitchen

Carter Blake certainly didn't have a reputation as a good or kind-hearted man, and he certainly didn't think it did anyone any favours to be thought of as a good or kind-hearted man.

That's why, every Sunday, he went out of his way to travel from Philadelphia to Boston to volunteer at the soup kitchen there, where he didn't know anyone, and had no ties. This Sunday was no exception.

"Goddamned traffic..." Blake growled, as he sat in the motionless car. Inching forward, he sighed at the seemingly never-ending stream of traffic. He'd never make it in time now... He was gonna have to ring and cancel. Picking up his phone, Blake turned his head to look for any police cars about. Whilst he could get up to pretty much whatever he liked in his precinct, there were certainly people out there who wouldn't mind putting him down just for a little call on the phone... Plenty was in fact an understatement. Especially after he arrested Ethan Mars in the Origami Killer case... Double especially after Mars had decided to go public with his story to the newspapers... Including the, eh... 'questioning time' he had beaten into Ethan... he'd only just escaped out of _that_ one with his career. In all fairness he couldn't really blame the guy... He'd have done a lot worse to himself if he'd been in Ethan's shoes. He pushed the thoughts aside, as he scanned the road and the lay-bys to see no cop cars about. There was one car in the lay-by, but only one guy in it. Not the police... He pulled out his phone, and punched in the numbers, making the call to the Boston soup kitchen.

"Hi. Yea, Faye? It's me, Carter. Look, I'm sorry but there's shitloads of traffic, I'm not going to be able to make it... Yea. Yea, I know. Again. Oh, you heard about that too? Fuckin' great... Yea, not the best thing that's ever..." Blake trailed off as he saw the guy from the car in the lay-by get out and start walking towards him. _Oh shit, maybe he was one of the Boston cops after all?_ Before Blake could follow this thought any further, the man stumbled over nothing, fell, and landed splat on his face. Right in the middle of the road. "What the?!" Carter exclaimed. "Faye, I'm gonna have to go, now. Speak soon..." he cut off the phone and picked up his gun from under his seat, well aware this man could be armed and dangerous for all he knew. Not to mention drugged up to the eyeballs by the look of him...

He'd have to be quick. Even though the traffic was slow, the car in the other lane was gassing on the phone, and yelling at her kids in the back, she obviously hadn't seen the guy's head in the path of her wheels. Even going at ten miles per hour like she was now, assuming she didn't speed up, if she went over his head the poor guy stood no chance.

Scooting across the seat to the other side, Blake took a deep breath, and slammed the door open, and hurled himself into the road feet first, catching the other guy in the head with his feet, and more or less kicking him onto the grass at the side, out of the path of the car.

Blake, however, wasn't so lucky. As the car sped towards him, (_fucking traffic had cleared, just his fucking luck!_) he hurled himself out of its way, but it caught his leg, dislocating his ankle.

"_Fuck!" _Blake yelled in pain, shaking his fist at the speeding away car, the one-finger salute she showed at him either showing she had very poor upbringing, or she thought Blake was a fucking junkie. Whatever the case, Blake was obviously the one (slightly) less worse off. He half-rolled, half-kicked the other man into the recovery position, wincing at the pain in his foot.

"Fuck, fucking pansy isn't fucking breathing." he growled under his breath. He hated, absolutely _hated _ doing Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation and now it was his day off, and he still seemed to get lumbered with the fucking drunks and stoners. He rolled the guy onto his back, and stared at what, or rather, who he saw. Norman Jayden.

"_Norman fucking Jayden?!"_ he yelled out loud. But he had no time to waste. As he checked the guy's airways for obstructions, and tilted his head back, he thought angrily about how the guy was still ruining his fucking life, even when he wasn't working at the damned precinct any more. A treacherous thought entered his head.

_ He was going to have to kiss the guy that had accused him of being the Origami Killer._

"Ah, fuck it... Can't fucking let him die..." Carter said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He bent in to give Jayden Mouth-to-Mouth, and just as suddenly as he had stopped breathing, Norman started breathing again, and threw up all down his shirt, and a fair proportion of Carter Blake's beard.

When his eyes had focused, he saw the bright-red face of Carter Blake (mostly covered in puke), he groaned.

"Oh, not you again. You're not real. GO 'WAY."

Carter dragged the seemingly inebriated man up against his own car, and slammed his head against the door.

"I'm as real as it gets." He growled. "Now you'd better tell me what the **fuck **is going on."


	2. The NotADruggie

Jayden saw stars, and turned an even more unhealthy shade of green as the waterfall that had been crashing down around him disappeared, but Carter Blake stayed exactly where he was.

_Oh fuck, he is real!_

"Wh' the Hell do you think you're doing?" Jayden slurred, all too aware that his recent withdrawal symptoms would make Blake think he was stoned. "Why'd you slam my head against the..."

Blake clouted him round the head. Hard. "I just saved your life, _Norman_. And I'm beginning to wish I hadn't bothered. Now, you're going to give me some answers, and you're going to give me them _now_."

Jayden looked at him with contempt. "You can't beat a confession out of everyone, Blake." He paused, seemingly confused. "And why the fuck have you got sick in your beard?" Carter glared at him.

"Take a guess, genius. After all, you are the _brilliant_ FBI agent." Jayden mumbled something under his breath that Blake didn't quite catch, and he couldn't be bothered to ask.

"Right. So if you're not going to give me any answers, at least answer one question for me. You're stoned, and I've got a dislocated ankle. How the fuck are either of us going to get home?"

"...Not stoned." mumbled Jayden.

"So... you're not stoned, but you fell over in the middle of the road for no reason, stopped breathing, puked all over me and yourself, and keep slurring your words. Yeah, makes perfect sense."

"Whatever, Blake. Just leave me alone, will you?" Jayden said, standing up shakily, and getting into his car. "Thank God I puked on you and not in the car..." Jayden mused. "It's a rental, and I don't have a spare fifty bucks to get it cleaned."

Stunned at this un-Jayden like comment, Blake was just about to bark out an insult, when Jayden pulled his sick-stained shirt off over his head, and tossed it out of the car.

"**Get this fucking shirt off my head!**" Blake yelled. Norman turned round, and couldn't suppress a small laugh.

"Oh, but Carter, it matches your beard!" (He was still a little giddy from the last withdrawal.) Carter pulled the shirt off his head.

"Fuck you, Norman."

"Aww, I like you too, Carter." Jayden snorted, through a fit of the giggles.

"Shut up you idiot, you're drunk."

"M' not drunk. Only had 2 beers.... And a whiskey."

Carter stared at him in disbelief. "Well, I always figured you one not to be able to hold your liquor, but 2 beers and a whiskey is ridiculous. Mind you..." he sneered, "Being a good-for-nothing stoner probably does nothing for your sobriety."

"Shurrup Carter. You said yer ankle's broken. Do you wanna lift or do you wanna run your mouth off?" Carter shut up. While he most certainly _didn't_ want a lift with that jerk Norman Jayden, it was the only way he had of getting out of this lay-by. While Faye could probably pick his car up if he rung her, that wouldn't be for hours yet, she didn't finish at the soup kitchen until it got dark. And it was starting to rain... Carter sighed.

"Fine. Call it part payment for saving your scrawny neck. And for Christ's sake, put your bloody shirt on."


	3. The Ex

"So where you going?" Jayden said through the silence. "You on official business in Boston?"

"No." said Blake. "No, I got a er... a commitment up here, every Sunday." Jayden recognised the tone of a man who didn't want to talk, and dropped the subject.

"Where do you want me to drop you? I mean, thanks for saving my life and all that, but I can't really afford the petrol to take you back to Philadelphia."

"Huh, always figured the FBI paid well, that's why they get numb-nuts posh boys like you." Jayden looked away.

"Yea... well 'posh boys like me' don't want to spend all their hard earned cash on psychopaths with sick in their beard."

"Fuck off Jayden." Blake said half-heartedly.

There was a definite uneasy silence in the car – both men waiting for a reason to fall out with the other. Then Blake, being Blake, found one.

"Hey, posh boy. Why do you have a keyring?"

"What?" Norman asked irritably. He was beginning to get sober now, and he had an awful headache coming...

"I said why do you have a keyring?" Jayden looked across to see Blake had filched his keyring.

"Hey, give that back!"

"What's the point?" Blake said infuriatingly, keeping the keyring at an arms length. "You don't have any keys."

"Just give it back!"

"Not until you tell me why you don't have any keys..." Blake trilled in a sing-song voice, calculated to just the right amount to wind Norman up.

_Jesus, he's chirpier than last time I saw him. Any time I saw him for that matter._

Blake fiddled with the keyring, noticing it had a clasp, and something was inside. He tried to open it.

"**For Christ's sake Blake, give me the damn thing!**" Jayden yelled, grabbing it out of his hand. The clasp snapped, and the photo inside fell to the floor. During a tussle which Norman never really had much chance in anyway, considering he was driving, Blake grabbed the photo and gave it a good look. It was the picture of two young men, probably in their mid-twenties. One had dark blond hair, and blue eyes, and the guy he had his arm around was unmistakeably a slightly younger, happy-looking Jayden.

_Must be his brother..._ Carter thought, but decided to taunt Norman some more.

"So... Norm." Carter started off, leaning back into his seat. "This your boyfriend?" Norman shook his head.

"Nope." Carter grinned, wondering how to make the kid feel more awkward, when Jayden spoke again. "He's my ex actually."

Carter was so sure that he Jayden would say 'He's my brother' that the answer came out before he had processed Jayden's words. "Yea, course he... _what?"_

"I said he's my ex." Jayden said in a perfectly normal voice, the only indication to any emotion he was feeling the way his knuckles were almost white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. "We were together for six years. I dropped my family for him, all my ex- friends, and moved into his flat. One day, I came home from work, and he'd left a note. Said he was straight. He'd always been straight, and our relationship was just a blip on his otherwise perfect life. Oh, yeah... and for two years he'd been shagging my sister."

For once, Blake was lost for words.

"Right. That sounds..."

"Crazy? Yeah, I know. I was beginning to wonder if I should call them for a reunion with Jerry Springer. Wonder what the title would be. 'Thick-as-shit FBI agent gets screwed both literally and figuratively by sister's husband.'" he sighed and shook his head. "God I'm an idiot..."

Some minutes passed before Carter spoke.

"Mud."

"What do you mean, 'mud'?"

"Well it's not as dense as shit, is it? Thick-as-mud."

Norman turned to look at him, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "You know Carter, coming from you? I'm gonna take that as a compliment."


	4. The Soup Kitchen

From then on until Norman had dropped him off at ER to get his ankle sorted, the rest of the journey had been a quiet one. Carter was still at a loss for what to stay, and Norman kept staring moodily out of the window. Norman had dropped him off at the entrance, looking at his watch and complaining that he was going to have to pay an extra fee for the car. And that had been about that.

Except that something kept niggling at the back of Blake's mind, annoying him every time he got the chance to think. He just didn't think Jayden had been entirely honest with him. Over what, he wasn't certain. But he _hated_ being kept in the dark.

By the time the weekend came along, Blake was almost too shattered to go to the soup kitchen, figuring he might as well stay at home and call in sick. After all, they had plenty of volunteers there, what would one volunteer off-sick hurt?

But the thought of being stuck at home, bumming around with nothing to do eventually got Blake off his backside. He wasn't the type to sit on his laurels and do nothing, so eventually Blake got up and got in the car to drive to Boston. He laughed under his breath.

_Hopefully he wouldn't come across any more stoners this time... His ankle was sore enough as it was! _He sighed._ He would have never have thought of Norman Jayden as a drug addict. Especially when he was in the FBI and all that shit... Just went to show you couldn't trust anyone these days._

Blake spent the rest of the journey in a general state of road rage, honking the horn and yelling at anything that remotely got in his way. He felt it not only relieved stress (albeit with the added danger of busting an artery), but it also helped the journey pass a damn lot quicker. Carrying on in this manner, it wasn't long until he got there.

Getting out of the car, he slung his jacket over his shoulder, locked the car, and walked into the community centre where the soup kitchen was. A plump, kind-looking woman in her mid-fifties greeted him.

"Carter! Glad you could make it this time." she said, beaming. Carter bristled slightly.

"Yea, well I..."

"Say no more, say no more. It's partly my fault really, I should have let you know the traffic, I know you don't check it. Anyway, come in, come in, we're just about ready to get started actually!"

Blake sighed, and walked in. It was impossible to pick a fight with Faye, she was just too cheerful. Unfortunately, she often said things other people would mean as insults completely innocently... "So Carter, are you still single? It's a shame to let all that kind-heartedness go to waste." she beamed, handing him a mug of coffee. Carter sighed, and took a sip.

"I'm not..."

"Oh yes you are!" she butted in happily. "You may think you're the big bad wolf, but I know better. You're just a big softie underneath. So when will you get yourself a lucky guy or girl?"

Carter spat out his drink, and choked half to death. When he'd regained his composure, he glared with disbelief at Faye.

"_What?"_

"Oh, no offence meant Carter!" she trilled. "It's just a bit old-timesy to presume everyone is straight nowadays, don't you think?" She wandered off before Blake could say anything, leaving him twitching slightly.

After this little incident, Blake took up his place behind the counter and put on an apron so he wouldn't get his clothes dirty, and the customers started to come in.

While it was a monotonous job, Blake wouldn't say it wasn't rewarding. Perhaps not as much excitement as being out on the beat, but definitely it was worthwhile to see the look on peoples' faces as they had a good meal that they possibly hadn't had for a week. It also gave him time to think. He could work out what was happening with cases at the precinct, think about all the people in the centre, and what they were like, or simply just mindlessly stare into space while his arms did the work ladling soup, or carrots, or various other foods and desserts into peoples' bowls. Today was one of those stare into space days.

Which was probably why he didn't notice he hadn't put the soup down properly until it spilt all over his feet.

"Hey, want a handkerchief?" one of the customers asked.

"Yea, thanks..." Blake took the thing absent-mindedly, and wiped down his shoes. He stood up again and passed it back to the guy, only to feel the guy staring at him.

"What?" he snapped, finally coming out of his daydream, and realising he was stood opposite to Norman Jayden, who looked just as shocked as he did.

"...Blake?" Jayden asked, unsure if this was real, or if he was having another withdrawal.

"_**Jayden?**__" _Carter screeched. "_What the Hell are you doing here? Come to get a free meal, you good for nothing layabout?_" Jayden turned red, and glared at him.

"I _could_ ask you the same thing!" he said indignantly.

"Oh, _could_ you? Well in case you hadn't noticed, _Norman,_ I am a productive member of society, whereas you are just a useless FBI druggie!" Jayden stepped back at those words, as if he'd been slapped in the face, but Carter carried on obliviously. "So what do you do, go round all the charity kitchens in the area, getting a free meal, _as well as_ living off our taxes?"

"I... just leave me alone, Carter, I'm not looking for a fight. Just let me have the food and I'll go." Carter shook his head.

"No chance, free-loader."

By this time, almost all eyes in the centre were trained on Carter and Jayden, and there was a rumbling of muttered unease. Faye stepped in before a riot could break out.

"Carter, just what do you think you're doing?" she hissed. Carter looked angry, but he was a little take aback – he'd never seen Faye angry before.

"I'm not serving him."

"Why not? You know perfectly well we serve anyone and everyone as long as they aren't under the influence of drink or drugs!" Carter glared at Norman, and looked back at Faye with a look of triumph in his eyes.

"Yea? Well why don't you ask Mr. Off-His-Face over there why his hands are trembling?" Faye looked disapprovingly at Blake, but nonetheless did look over at Jayden.

"Sir, Are you under the influence of alcohol, or any illegal medications? Because if you are, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for the safety of everyone else." Jayden turned bright red and stuttered, which Faye took as her answer. "Sir..." Jayden's shoulders slumped, and he looked defeated.

"Don't worry, I'll go." he said. "I can't be bothered arguing, and I don't want to cause you any trouble." After he had slouched out of the building, Faye turned back to Carter.

"Carter, I think it's time you took a break, don't you? Come back next week if you've got yourself together." Carter blinked.

"But I...he... he's a stoner for Christ's sakes!"

"That looks like it may be the case, but nonetheless, being rude to our customers is not part of our ethos. I'll accept you back next week, as long as this doesn't happen again." Open-mouthed, Blake stared at her, only now realising the whole of the centre was staring at him.

"Fine. Just don't blame me if the idiot comes back in again, and causes trouble. I did my bit." He held up his hand as Faye opened her mouth. "Yea, yea, I'm going."

He took off his apron and chucked it over a chair, then shoved on his coat, and stalked out of the building.


	5. The Shark

As soon as Norman had left the centre and rounded the corner, he'd leant against the wall and sank to the floor. Since he'd given up the tripto completely, he'd found the withdrawals a lot harder to control, especially when he got upset or stressed out. And a lot of that seemed to be happening lately... He couldn't blame it entirely on Blake, although he certainly didn't help. It had been the Origami Killer case that had been the final straw. After David had left him for his sister, he had finally agreed to the stupid trials on the ARI, not really caring at that point what it would do to his health. Then there had been the dizzying switches between reality and the imagination as well, even when he had the ARI off. He had often woken up at night in a cold sweat, in the middle of a dark forest, twigs snapping all around him as _something_ came closer, even though it wasn't real... And those were the good ones. There were also the times when he woke up on the dusty surface of Mars, unable to breathe, and sometimes he was underwater.

The worst reality/extra-reality blurs were when he was underwater. Those happened usually at the most inconvenient of times, and generally when he was in a very stressful situation... He usually didn't realise until it was too late that he was having one, he guessed because by then he was so stressed out he couldn't think straight. It scared him even more than in testing for the ARI, the FBI had told him that it was actually possible to die if you died in a hallucination. It was very rare, but if you had a really bad one you could get so scared your heart would stop beating. Literally get scared to death...

Jayden shuddered at the thought, stood up, and tried to pull himself together. He'd just have to scrounge a meal from somewhere else...

"Hey, _Jayden._ Thanks to you, I've just lost a day's gas for nothing! You happy now, you little jerk?" Norman turned round to see a shark talking to him.

"Wh..." he started off fearfully, but the shark just kept swimming closer, and it butted in before he could say anything.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm on about, you ass-wipe. You came here just to try and muck things up for me, didn't you? Well you succeeded. You happy now? _Well? Are you?_" Jayden backed off slowly, but the shark just came closer quicker.

"Oh, don't think you can run away from me, you little shit. Just try it. I'll fucking eat you for breakfast..." It was circling around him, and a shoal of brightly-coloured fish were wearing scuba-diving kit. Jayden laughed a hysterical high-pitched giggle.

_Fish didn't need scuba diving kits, they could breathe underwater! ...Underwater?_

"Are you even listening to me, you little shit?" Jayden snapped his attention back to the shark-with-a-voice-like-Carter, just as the overgrown fish shoved its toothy grimace into his face, ready to take his head off, Jayden was sure.

He screamed, but no sound came out, only a muffled gurgle as he choked on the water that he was trying so hard to remember wasn't there. Trying to hold his breath usually worked, but with a lung full of water already, and a fucking great white shark in his face, that wasn't an option. As much as he found it possible to, Jayden started to hyperventilate. _He was gonna die, he was gonna die, he was gonna fucking __**die!**_

He was ashamed as the tears came streaming down his face, only to realise as his sight turned red that it wasn't tears but blood, which spread out slowly in the water.

_Blood, oh fuck oh __**fuck**__sharks and blood didn't mix and he was going to get eaten alive!_

Those were his last rational thoughts before the Carter-shark lunged at him with a fin, and he went into cardiac arrest.


	6. The Hallucinations

Blake was seriously pissed off. He didn't know how that little prick got to him so much, but manage it he did. He'd just cost him a trip up to Boston for no reason for Christ's sake!

He chucked his coat in the car, and was just about to throw himself in as well when he saw the source of his anger disappear around the corner of the building.

_Norman you little prick, what are you up to now? Snorting some goddamned cocaine up your nose probably..._ Blake thought. _If there was one thing he didn't like more than anything it was drug junkies. _Rounding the corner, Blake saw Norman stand up shakily from where he'd been sitting against the wall, and started prowling towards him. "Hey, _Jayden." _he said angrily. "Thanks to you, I've just lost a day's gas for nothing! You happy now, you little jerk?"

The kid turned round, and jumped visibly at seeing Blake. _Oh, how the mighty have fallen... _Blake mused. Jayden started to say something, but Blake interrupted him almost before he had started. "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm on about, you ass-wipe. You came here just to try and muck things up for me, didn't you? Well you succeeded. You happy now? _Well? Are you?_"

Apart from a small squeak, he still said nothing, backing away slowly, and Carter took this to mean he was going to make a run for it. _Good, he was scaring him._ "Oh, don't think you can run away from me, you little shit. Just try it. I'll fucking eat you for breakfast..." he growled, and just walked faster towards him.

For the first time, he looked closely at the younger man, took in his shaking hands and twitchiness, and the way he seemed to be looking at something that wasn't there, unless something was hovering just about three feet over Carter's head... _I was right! _Carter crowed inside his head._ Little junkie is all drugged up!_

He was jerked out of his thoughts by Norman letting out some kind of high pitched squeak, or maybe it was meant to be a strangled laugh of sorts. He growled at the thought that on some level Jayden was laughing at him. "Are you even listening to me, you little shit?" he barked, finally catching up the distance to Jayden as he stared transfixed at whatever he was seeing in his stoner head, and shoving his face aggressively right next to the younger man's.

For all the years he'd spent on gritty cases at the police station, Carter wasn't prepared for what happened next. Norman turned to look at him, the look of stupid amusement on his face turning to one of sheer shit-your-pants terror, that at first made Carter wonder if something really shit-scary was behind him. The kid opened his mouth to scream, but all that happened was a sort of strangled gasp, and he clutched at his throat, breathing coming in short, scared gasps, hardly at all. Blake blinked, unsure if the kid was having him on, until he saw the blood pouring out of his eyes. _Oh fuck..._ he thought, and grabbed for the kid to steady him, but it was too late, he was already flat out on the floor.

Carter dropped to his knees, and felt for a pulse. Shit, there wasn't one, and his phone was in the car... Thank God he took that First Aid course when it was offered at work. He checked Norman's breathing, to find there was a distinct lack of it, undid his shirt to ease the pressure on his throat, and quickly began performing Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation.

Nothing happened. Getting worried now, Carter started chest compressions. _Come on, don't die on me..._ Carter thought desperately, and if he wasn't so preoccupied probably would have been startled to realise that he actually gave a shit about Jayden. He carried this on for what seemed like an age, and finally felt the younger man's body jerk as he spluttered back into life again. Checking him over to make sure he hadn't broken anything or hit his head as he fell, Carter picked Jayden up, and carried him to the car. _Jeez, he hardly weighed anything! Did he not eat?_ He felt a slight twinge of guilt for not letting him have anything to eat at the soup kitchen. Opening the car door, he bundled Norman inside, and pulled the seatbelt over him before getting into the car himself. After starting the car up, he drove out of the parking space, and started heading towards the hospital.

He turned to look at Jayden, and noticed he was falling asleep. "Hey. Talk to me, Norman. I'm not having you die on me, the paperwork alone'd be horrendous." Jayden stirred slightly, but didn't answer. "Hey! Jayden! Talk to me!" Jayden opened his eyes, and Blake saw that his normally bright pale blue eyes were rimmed with red, and the blood that had been pouring from his eye-sockets was just now slowing.

"Talk about what?" he mumbled.

"Anything. Whatever, as long as it keeps you awake. Why were you here at the soup kitchen and not doing fancy FBI investigations?"

"Because I don't work at the FBI anymore." Jayden replied, slipping back into sleep.

"Well where do you work then?" _There was no way the kid was dying on him... Hell if he did, it might even be partly his fault!_

"I don't. I resigned before I got chucked, and I couldn't afford the mortgage payments. My house got repossessed..."

"So where do you live then?" _Oh shit, don't say he actually is homeless after all. The only thing that could make me feel any more shit now is if he isn't a druggie after all. Huh, not that there's much chance of that._

"Whichever doorway I can find that's dry and not occupied by someone else I guess..."

"Right. We're nearly there now Jayden, hang on in there. Uhmm..." Carter tried to think of something else to talk about. "The car. Why in Hell did you rent a car if you haven't got any money or a house? You could've bought food or shelter with that, for Christ's sake."

"I... I was going to see my parents. They said they'd accept me back into the family when I eventually dumped David. Of course, I thought that would never happen... But in the end, I suppose it didn't, because he dumped me. I never did properly thank you for saving my life, by the way. And now you've done it again."

"Don't mention it." said Carter gruffly, waving his hand. "Call it a pay-back for the Origami case. I hate to say it, Jayden, but you and those fancy glasses of yours really helped with the investigation."

"Really?" Jayden looked surprised. "...Thanks." Blake grunted in reply, and parked up at the hospital. He got out, and opened Jayden's door.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

"Course I can walk!" Norman replied quickly, standing up and stepping forward, before his knees crumpled and he nearly hit the floor again.

"No, you don't, not this time." Carter said matter-of-factly, and bundled him over his shoulder.

"Carter... I _can_ walk!" Norman whined.

"Whatever, Norm, but I'm not having you get a concussion as well as your drug habit."

"_I don't have a..."_ Jayden was interrupted by a doctor coming up to them, and enquiring as to whether he needed to be seen soon.

"Well, considering he's only just stopped bleeding from his eyes, and his heart stopped ten minutes ago, I'd say so." drawled Carter, and in a flash Norman was taken off on a trolley, looking somewhat pasty.

And all Carter could do was wait.


	7. The Slip of the Tongue

Why he waited at the hospital for so long, Blake would never know. He tried to tell himself it was simply because he wanted answers, but that didn't cut it. After all, if that had been it, he could have simply beaten seven kindsa' crap out of the ex-FBI officer the first time, when he'd found him by the side of the road. He didn't like where this train of thought was going...

_Fucking Norman Jayden. Still messing everything the fuck up, even unintentionally..._ Blake growled, realising he'd been pacing for the last twenty minutes. _Agh, what the fuck is wrong with me?_

He forced himself to sit down, and leafed through the dog-eared hospital magazines. Twenty minutes of "Cosmo" later (well there were no other magazines there!), a doctor called him.

"Sir? He's been asking after you. Now, he's full of pain-killers which seem to have affected him quite strongly, so don't take too much notice of what he says, he's been yelling 'SHARK!' every time a nurse goes in, and cowering under the bedclothes." Carter nodded.

"Well what's wrong with him?" He realised too late that that was a stupid question, doctors didn't answer that to anyone except family. Then the doctor answered, surprising him.

"He seems to be suffering from drug withdrawal, from what we're not sure, but something toxic. It would appear by the state of him he's been taking two or more drugs, and has completely given them up a few months ago roughly. He's also suffering from slight malnutrition, and is somewhat underweight, but they're not that important considering the rest of it."

"Okay..." said Carter. _Damn, so he hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't on drugs... _The doctor startled him when he realised he was talking again.

"...So don't be too hard on him, try and save any arguments for later." Carter looked slightly puzzled. Why would he argue with him now when he was ill? He shrugged.

"Yea, sure." The doctor smiled, and led him to Jayden's room, catching him before he went in.

"Can I just say... It's nice to see you two be so supportive to each other." he said, smiling. Even more confused now, Carter nodded, and went in, closing the door behind him. He approached the hospital bed where a pasty-faced Jayden sat up, looking out the window and batting his hands at invisible things in the air.

_Ah great, he's hallucinating again..._ Carter coughed, trying to announce his presence, but Jayden didn't hear him. Walking closer, Carter sat on the bed, and tapped him on the shoulder. Jayden jumped and turned round, and his eyes lit up.

"Carter!" he squeaked happily. He laughed, and Carter figured he was maybe a little more pumped full of meds than the doctor had made out... "You came to see me! I've been telling the nurses all about you." Blake cocked his head to one side, and narrowed his eyes.

"Meaning?" Norman laughed hysterically.

"Meaning they think you're gay!" he rolled about on the bed laughing. "I mean, they know I am thanks to my medical forms, but..." he snorted and hiccuped at the same time, and nearly choked, then carried on laughing. "_They think you are my boyfriend!_" Carter turned bright red.

_So that's why they let him in to see him..._ He had the urge to strangle Norman, but decided he was probably too ill... Unfortunately.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by another squeak from Norman, who was now staring at him with a look of terror in his eyes, which Carter by now knew all too well.

"_Shark!_" he squeaked. Carter looked behind him, _just in case_ a giant fish with teeth was swimming in mid-air round the hospital. You never knew... But, of course, there wasn't.

"Don't be daft Jayden, I'm not a..."

_"Talking shark!"_

Carter sighed. "I'm not that either." he reassured Norman, but he had scooted up to the other side of the bed away from Carter, seemingly terrified. "Jayden!"

"Aaagh!"

Carter felt a surge of pity for the younger man, who had seemingly got a rough deal in life, but the kid tried to take it in his stride. He moved up the bed, closer to Norman, and put both hands on his shoulders, face close to him.

"Norman. I am _not _a shark." he said, feeling slightly foolish at the words that were coming out of his mouth. Norman made a small noise, but kept his eyes focused on Blake, which he took as a good sign. "I am not a shark. I am Carter. Your friend." _Friend? Wait, when did that happen?_

"My friend..." mumbled Jayden in a daze.

"That's right. It's me, Carter. Now, settle down, and have a rest, all this excitement can't be good for you." he said, patting Jayden on the back, who seemed to have calmed down, even if he was still doped up on a combination of painkillers and drug withdrawal. The younger man scrambled under the hospital bed covers, suddenly tired out, and Blake stood up to leave. He'd just got to the door, when Norman's voice stopped him.

"Thanks Carter. Love you." The older man swivelled round to look at Jayden, unsure if he was joking or not, but he was already half asleep.

"Uhhh... No problem kid. I like you too." he gruffly replied, and left the room.


	8. The Boston Accent Debate

The next day at work, Carter's mind was whirring.

_What had he been thinking? _Carter almost banged his head against the desk in despair, sat in the office at the precinct. _What was it he'd said... 'No problem kid. I like you too.' Shit, shit, shit, shit __**shit!**__ What if... What if Norman thought he was... thought he was __**gay**__? __**What if he tried to come onto him?**__"_

He must have made some kind of noise at the thought, because Ash turned round to look at him from the other desk.

"You alright, Carter?"

Carter shook himself out of his thoughts. "Hmm...? Oh, yea... Yea I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Thinking's not good for you." Ash replied. There was a few minutes of silence, before Ash spoke again. "You fancy going out for a piss-up this Sunday?"

"Hmm? Nah, got something on. Sorry." Said Blake, not sounding it at all.

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Going up to Boston."

"Oh..." The detective paused for a minute, thinking. "Boston... why does that ring a bell? Oh... Oh yeah! It's where that douche Jayden came from." Carter twitched, but managed to say nothing. Ash, however, carried on. "God, that little faggot was irritating. With those gay little glasses... Speaking of gay, I wouldn't be surprised if the little poof did take it up the ass... He always seemed a cock-licker, with his la-di-dah little suits, and his shitty Boston accent. God I hate Boston accents..."

"I think they're kinda sexy actually..." Carter mumbled absent-mindedly. Ash blinked.

"Wh... Oh. _Oh!_ I thought you meant Jayden for a minute. God, Carter, you had me scared for a minute!" he laughed. "Yea, Boston accents are cute on chicks, I'll grant you."

Carter walked off, hands clenched, with the excuse that 'he needed a piss'.

_What the fuck? What the fuck was going on? Apart from the fact that he was a slimy weed, why had he felt such a strong urge to punch Ash when he'd been talking about Norman?_

_**And why the fuck **__had he been thinking about Jayden when he had said 'I think they're kinda sexy actually...'_

_ Shit this was getting messed up..._


	9. The Lift

A week passed since the incident, and the hospital discharged Norman with the details of a refuge for recovering drug addicts. He politely accepted it, even though he had tried it and got beaten up the last time he was there, so wouldn't be trying that again...

The nurses waved him out of the ward, and then went back to their duties, leaving Jayden feel even more alone than he'd felt in months... He remembered that Carter had brought him in after he collapsed, but as for the rest of that day, he couldn't remember anything after that. As for the rest of the week, he hadn't had any visitors...

Noticing a pay-phone, he scrabbled in his pockets for his last twenty cents, and inserted them into the machine. Hands shaking, he typed in his parents' number, hoping they hadn't moved since he'd left. It rang for some time, and he was just about to give up and realise he'd wasted twenty cents for nothing. When a female voice answered the phone, one he knew well.

"Hello? Who is it?" Stunned, Norman paused a minute before he answered.

"H...Hi Mom."

"...Is that you, David?" Before he could answer, she carried on. "Oh, it is nice to hear from you! How are Anna and the kids?"

_Kids?_ Norman slammed the phone down. _Shit. Anna and David had __**children now?**_Shaking slightly, Jayden left the hospital. _He needed to see his parents. So they'd said they'd never accept him back until he was straight... He could pretend, couldn't he? ...Could he? Fuck it, he needed to see them either way. But how was he going to get there?_

Meanwhile, Blake was nearly at the Soup kitchen. He'd parked his car up a little while away, and was walking to the community centre. He'd toyed with the idea of visiting Norman, but had quickly shot that idea down, especially with the awkwardness he still felt after the last time he'd been at the hospital.

_ No, better to let sleeping dogs lie..._ Before he knew it, he was at the centre, but he was surprised to find someone already waiting outside. _Must be a new customer, the rest don't normally arrive this early. Wait a minute, he looks familiar..._

As the guy turned round, he noticed it was Jayden, looking considerably better than the last time he'd seen him. _Fuck, I did __**not**__ want to see him today. Not now..._ Carter thought, but Jayden was already coming over.

"Hey... I came early, so I could catch you before you opened. Can I ask you a favour? I mean, I know it's a bit soon to ask this but..."

"Spit it out, Norm." Carter snapped. _Shit, is he asking me out?_

Norman blinked. "Erm, okay... well basically I need a lift. It's not far, maybe about 20 minutes by car. But the doctors told me I need to rest up, not do too much. I'll understand if you don't want to, it's just... you're the only person I can turn to."

Carter realised that up until now he'd been holding his breath, and he let it out in a massive sigh. "Is that all? Yea, sure kid, I'll give you a lift. But you'll have to wait until I'm done at the soup kitchen. Come in and have something to eat if you want." Jayden nodded and went in, but he hadn't missed the look of relief on Blake's face after he'd asked for a lift.

_Just what had Carter thought he was going to ask?_


	10. The Fear He Might Be Coming Onto Me

Everything had settled down, and Faye seemed to have forgiven him about last week, although she did suggest he sit with Norman to make up for the previous Sunday. Well, not so much 'suggest' as 'insist'. Grumbling, Carter complied, else he'd never hear the end of it.

_Women..._

He watched as Norman ravenously tucked into a bowl of soup with a cheese roll, gulping it down like he hadn't eaten in a week. Jayden sensed he was being watched, and looked up sheepishly.

"It's been a while since I had a meal this good." He offered with a smile. "Thanks for not kicking me out this time."

"Hmph." Carter replied. Norman finished the rest of the meal in silence, then turned to Blake again.

"Aren't you going to go hand out the food? I'll wait for you here."

"Hmm? Oh. Oh, yeah." Carter left the table, donned an apron, and began handing out the food, again disappearing into daydreams.

_Was it possible to feel any more awkward? Norman had said... He'd said 'love you Carter'. Shit. Shit! What the fuck did he do now? Especially as he'd said 'I like you too'. And now he was going to be stuck in a car with him for twenty minutes! Agh, what had he been thinking when he agreed to that? He __**wasn't **__gay! He'd __**never**__ even thought about another guy in that way, for Christ's sake. Jayden wasn't stupid. He'd know he wasn't gay. It had just been the painkillers, that was it. He didn't fancy him at all._

Blake looked over at Jayden, then suddenly remembered his conversation with Ash. _'I think they're kinda sexy actually...' Shit! Why the fuck had he been thinking of Jayden when he said that?_ He looked back over at him again, then suddenly had a vision in his mind's eye of when Jayden had collapsed, and Carter had been undoing his shirt. _He had some pretty nice pecs for a scrawny little thing actually._ He thought, grinning.

_**Wait, what the fuck?**_ The grin disappeared off his face quicker than it had arrived, and he made a strangled noise, tearing his apron off and throwing it onto the chair for the second week in a row. He marched over to Norman, and dragged him out of his seat. "Come on. We're leaving."

"Wait, what? But you haven't finished your shift yet."

"Yea, well I have now. Come on, I said we're leaving."

"But..."

"Do you want a lift or not?" Carter growled. Jayden raised his arms in a peace gesture.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming."

The two of them walked out the building for the second time in two weeks, and Norman followed Carter to the car, the two of them walking in silence.

Opening the car door, Blake got in, and motioned for Norman to do the same.

"Well, are you going to tell me where you're going, or do I have to guess?" he snapped. Jayden looked at him, confused.

"What's up with you?"

"We're not playing bloody twenty questions, now do you want a lift or not?" Carter growled back.

"Okay, okay. 143 Irving Street, it's five minutes past the train station. You'll have to turn right when you get to the..."

"There is such a thing as a sat-nav, you know, _Jayden." _Carter snapped. "Us non-feds aren't as completely non-civilised as you think, you know." Norman narrowed his eyes.

"Whatever Blake. There's no reason to be a jerk, I haven't done anything to you. What's up with you today?"

"No, here's a question for you, _jerk-ass_. Why are you going visiting anyway? It's not like an ex-fed is going to have made any friends."

"I thought this wasn't twenty questions?" Jayden quipped back. Carter made a noise like some kind of wounded animal, then blew his top.

"_Shut the fuck up, Jayden. You want to know what's wrong with me today? Well you already know, but I'll tell you anyway. I don't know what you thought you were going to achieve in that hospital with your "I love you Carter", but it won't achieve jack-shit. And you know why? __**I'm not fucking gay!**_"


	11. The Argument

Jayden blinked. "...I never said you were?"

"Don't play dumb with me, _Norman._ I know you remember what you said."

"Well, I'm glad you remember whatever it was. Maybe you could enlighten me?" Jayden drawled sarcastically. Carter looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

_Shit, what if he was telling the truth? Well he certainly wasn't going to talk about it any more, else Norman might think he was prolonging the subject... He'd just better check though..._

"So you don't remember?"

"Carter, I think it's pretty obvious that I don't remember whatever you're going on about. I was in a pain-killer induced happy stupor, remember? Well... happy except when those sharks kept swimming about on the ward." He shuddered slightly. "Anyway, whatever you've got to say, will you just hurry up and say it? If you have a problem with my sexuality, that's fine, I just wish you'd decide so I know whether I have to get out and walk or not." Carter nodded.

"Fine. As long as you didn't... just... fine. It's okay. I don't... don't have a problem with you being a...being..."

"A queer?" Jayden interrupted with the hint of a sardonic smile.

"Shut up Jayden. You know what I mean."

There was silence for a while, in which Norman contemplated what Carter had just said. _I love you Carter? Shit... had he really said that? Shit... _Jayden decided to say something before the silence could get any more awkward.

"Carter, why do you work at the soup kitchen anyway? I mean, I never saw you as the type to be... well... charitable. Or friendly, now I come to think of it..." Norman slyly added in to the end of his statement, which earned him a glare from Carter.

"It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you someday."

_That basically means he won't then..._ Norman thought.

"Hey. Where are we going anyway? I mean, we're just around the corner, but whose house is it?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's my parents. They said they'd accept me back if I stopped being gay." Carter blinked, unsure he'd heard him correctly, and turned to look at him as he got out of the car.

"Last I heard, people couldn't just 'stop' being whatever sexual orientation they are... It's like asking Ash not to be a nosey dickweed..." Jayden smiled at him and laughed, and Carter was startled to get a squirming feeling in his stomach.

_Shit, what was that... no. I'm just hungry, that's it..._

"Yea, well." Norman replied, still grinning, "That's true. But Mom and Dad don't know that."

Carter got out, and stood on the sidewalk, hands on his hips.

"So what, you're just going to lie? Just going to take the easy way out, tell 'em you're a good straight boy, like your ex was?" Carter sneered. Norman turned red with anger, and glared daggers at Carter.

"Why the Hell do you care?" he yelled. "You don't know me, you don't know or care what I've been through! All you want to do is judge!"

"_Yeah?_ Well it's fucking _easy _to judge a little **prick** like you!"

"You can talk, Mr. On-The-Front-Page-Of-The-Tabloids-For-Police-Assault!" Carter winced.

_Shit, that was low. Must've hit a nerve._

"_At least we got the right guy eventually!"_

_ "_Eventually?" Jayden laughed. "That's about right. And from what I heard, one of the boys' mothers shot him! A woman! The whole of the police force out looking for him, and the one to catch him _isn't_ the local police, or the FBI, _or _ the _magnificent_ Carter Blake! It's one woman. On her own, with a hand pistol. Yeah. Great going there, _Carter._"

"**Fuck you, Jayden! You accused the wrong person too, remember?**"

"_I remember. _But _I _didn't beat the guy I accused up. And _I _ was being screwed over by the FBI at the time, rather than just being _plain incompetent!_"

They were interrupted by a polite cough, and they turned round to see a man of about seventy staring pointedly at them.

"Keep the noise down, this is a respectable community here." Jayden coughed, and looked down at his boots.

"Yea, I er... yea. Sorry Dad."


	12. The Father

The old man nodded at him in reply, and raised an eyebrow in question.

"What are you doing here Norman? Haven't seen you in some while."

"Nine years, I think, Dad." Jayden replied shakily. _Well, not exactly the welcome he'd been hoping for. But then what did he expect? His parents hated his guts..._

"Nine years...." his father mused. "Well, you got a good reason for being here? I'm not just having you and your... partner stand out here on the street, you know. When we said we didn't want to see you until you were normal, we meant it."

It took a while for what Jayden's father had said to sink in, but as soon as it had, both men turned beetroot red, and stepped away from each other quickly.

"He's not..." Jayden stammered.

"_I'm not his..."_ Carter yelped.

"_**I'm not gay!**__" _Norman yelled. Jayden's father looked at the two of them, horror on both of their faces, and quickly scanned the street to see if anyone had heard Norman's outburst.

"Hmph. Come inside, the both of you." he ordered. "I'm not having this argument out here where the neighbours can see."

"I've gotta get back to Philly..." Carter started, but was interrupted by an angry look from the old man.

"I _said_ come inside, young man. Do you have no respect for your elders?"

Carter blinked, not used to being talked to that way. He looked at Norman, who shrugged. They both went inside, and Jayden's father made them take their shoes off. He turned to them, arms crossed.

"Would you like a drink?" he asked stiffly. "We have tea, coffee, brandy, gin, and whisky.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Carter replied, earning him a glare from the old man, for what he wasn't sure.

"I'll have a whisky, please Dad." Jayden answered. He nodded, looked at the two of them suspiciously, and wandered off the get the drinks. As soon as he was out of earshot, Carter turned to Norman.

"Well, this is fucking _weird._" he whispered. "Has he always been like that?" Jayden shook his head sadly.

"No." he whispered back. "Not always..." Blake sighed.

"Let me guess, it was just because you're gay?" he asked, sympathetic for once. Jayden looked at him funny.

"Which I'm not." he hissed. "_Remember?_" At this, Carter rolled his eyes, and started snooping around the hallway, looking at all the photographs on the wall.

"Who's this?" he whispered to Norman, pointing at an old photo of a woman holding a child.

"Mum and me." he replied absent-mindedly

"And this?"

"My cousin Lana."

"And this?"

"...Hmph."

Carter looked at his face, and took a wild guess. "Sister?"

"Yep. Well, by blood."

"She's quite the looker. I'd imagine she had all the boys round after college."

"Huh. Yea, you could say that." Jayden said.

Before they could continue carrying on their conversation about Jayden's sister, his father came back with three whiskies, and handed one to Carter, even though he'd not wanted one. Carter shrugged, and downed it in one.

"Now." said Jayden's father. "What have you come to talk about?"


	13. The Mother

"Eric?" a voice called from the back before they could start talking. "Eric, who was it at the door?"

"Just a minute dear. It's only the Jehova's, I'm still trying to see them off." Jayden's father called back.

_Great... 'Still trying to see them off', that makes for a good start..._ Thought Norman.

_What a dick._ Thought Blake.

"Don't be so rude, Eric, invite the poor things in for a cup of tea and a..." The voice suddenly trailed off as the owner of it, a wheelchair-bound woman in her mid sixties, spotted Norman and Carter. She glared at Jayden's father. "Jehova's witnesses, eh? So when precisely did_ our son_ become a Jehova's witness?" Norman's dad at least had the grace to look guilty, but recovered quickly.

"He's no son of mine!" he growled, and stomped off. She sighed, and turned to Norman with a smile on her face.

"Norman, sweetheart, how are you? It's been too long. Come and have a chat." Jayden blinked.

"Mom, what.. why are you in a wheelchair? Are you ill?"

"It's a long story, sweetheart. Come and have a cup of coffee, and we can both catch up on the news." She smiled at Carter, and extended a hand, which he bent down to shake. "I'm Linda, Norman's mom." she told him.

"Pleased to meet you ma'am, I'm Carter, Norman's... friend." Blake said, calling up on his reserve of manners. _Shit, why did I pause before I said friend?_ But the old lady seemed to take no notice, and smiled at Carter.

"Pleased to meet you. Sorry about my husband's rude welcome. He can be a little... tetchy at times."

"Tell me about it..." Jayden murmured under his breath. His mother turned back to him with a hint of amusement on her face, and motioned for the two of them to come in out of the hallway.

"Come into the sitting room where we can talk." Jayden downed his drink in one, and left it on the sideboard (mainly to annoy his father). The two of them followed her into the sitting room, Blake a little unsure as to why he was still sticking around. Linda wheeled herself into the sitting room, and Norman helped her out of the wheelchair and onto the sofa. "So dear, how have you been?" She asked. Norman shrugged off the question.

"Fine, fine. Why are you in a wheelchair?" He suddenly realised his hands were twitching from the agitation, and tried to hide them, but his mother had noticed.

"Norman." she said sharply. "Why are your hands shaking?"

"I..." Jayden sagged, and appeared to give in. "Look, if I tell you, you'll probably want to kick me out, so first, _please_, why are you in a wheelchair? Are you alright? Can you walk at all, are you ill?"

"I..." she looked at Carter, who took the hint and moved back into the hallway. "Okay. It's not too bad, I can live with it. I've got Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Basically it means I'm very tired, and feel ill, and have some speech and memory problems." Norman nodded.

"Yes, I know what it is. But how... when did you get it?"

"A little while after you left. A couple of months, maybe. I wanted to call you, ask you to come back, but... you know what your father's like and I didn't have the strength to argue." Jayden's heart lifted slightly, even amongst all the bad news.

_Well at least Mom wanted to ask me back..._

"Anyway... it went downhill from there for a while, then recently things have started getting better. I can walk a little, but only if really necessary. So... that's my part of the bargain." she looked shrewdly at Jayden. "Now why are your hands shaking? And who is that young'un out there? He a new boyfriend?"

"What? Erm... no! I'm not gay anymore!" Norman stage-whispered to his mother. She raised an eyebrow.

"Now, sweetheart, we both know that's rubbish. You've never been interested in women your whole life. Just because your father wants you to be, doesn't mean you can be. Anyway, you were telling me about your hands."

Over the next fifteen minutes, Jayden explained to her about David leaving him, joining the FBI, ARI, homelessness, and his addiction, thoroughly expecting to get chucked out of the house any minute. When he had finished, his mother turned to him, looking slightly confused.

"So are you still on this...triptocaine stuff?"

"No. I'm having withdrawals, but I wouldn't have come here if I was still on it." She nodded.

"Well then. How long are you staying?" Norman blinked.

"Sorry?"

"How long are you staying for? You and your friend are welcome to share the spare room, I can get round your father. Just don't... get up to anything, I think it would kill him."

"Really? Thanks Mom." Jayden smiled. "But I don't think Carter's staying, he's got to get back to work."

After helping her back into her wheelchair, Jayden opened the door, to reveal a beetroot-red Blake.

"Damn kids have slashed my bloody tyres!" he yelled.


	14. The Restless Night

After Carter had calmed down, and after Linda had calmed Jayden's father down, it had been decided that as neither of them had any transport, and both Carter and Eric refused to pay for taxi money, the two of them would have to stay the night. Carter would have phoned Ash to call in sick, but he was too embarrassed to give the explanation.

_Let's face it, was there a way to say that without sounding like a complete and utter douche? 'Oh, Hi Ash, I won't be in tomorrow because the FBI nerd who I hated so much at the time, yea, you know him? Turns out he's actually an ex-FBI nerd, who also happens to be gay, and I'm sharing the same room as him 'cause my car broke down. Plus, turns out I don't hate him, we're actually good friends.'_ he shuddered. _Couldn't see that going down well at the station... _He was jerked out of his daydreams by Norman's mother arriving with a pair of pajamas for him.

"I'm afraid he refused to lend some to Norman..." she said sadly. "Well, actually he said something along the lines of 'Only if I can burn them afterwards', which more or less equates to the same thing."

"Right. Erm, well... thanks."

"You're welcome dear." she said, smiling. Carter turned to go upstairs and get changed, but she caught his arm. "While I remember, the bedding is in the cupboard above the bed. It's a king-size, so you should have plenty of room the two of you." Carter froze.

_A king-size... They were sharing a __**bed? **__Shit! Well, it was too late to back out now, he needed somewhere to sleep anyway... Norman just better not try anything is all..._

He walked into the bathroom, and got changed into the pajamas he'd been lent. When he got out, he saw Norman waiting outside, looking expectantly at him.

"Carter? Did Mom give you any pajamas for me?"

_Oh shit, and Norman'd be sleeping in his pants as well... _He made a strangled noise, which Norman somehow correctly interpreted as a 'no'. He sighed.

"I suppose it's good that Mom's okay with me. But I dunno, I guess I just thought Dad might've...mellowed a bit by now." he sighed, then turned back to Blake again. "Anyway, I made the bed. Do you want to top and tail, or what?" Carter glared at him, semi-sure that this was all an elaborate plan Jayden had cooked up.

"What, and sleep next to your _feet_? No _thank you._" Norman shrugged.

"Okay, whatever." He clambered into bed and turned off the lights. "Night then." Carter stood there for a while, unsure if he could fit in the small space on the floor.

_Maybe if I curled up into a small ball, and tucked one leg under the bed..._ Cursing the fact that the spare room was so small, Carter grabbed a leftover blanket off the floor, and squashed up in a sort of lying-down crouch on the floor, struggling to fit in the small space. Realising he was a bit too close to cracking his head on the bedside table, he sat up again and shuffled around a bit, but it still didn't help. He cursed under his breath, and stood up, absent-mindedly pulling on the bed clothes as he did so. Unfortunately, Norman wasn't lying on them any more, so they fell to the floor, along with Carter. "_**Argh! **__Ow, shit!"_ Carter yelled.

"Hunh..." Jayden mumbled sleepily. "What the Hell, Carter...?" he looked at the other side of the bed to see he wasn't there, then looked over the side to see a very dazed-looking Blake clutching his head on the floor. "Shit... are you okay Carr?" he said, sounding concerned.

_Carr... when did that happen?_ Blake tried to get up, but seemed to have twisted his ankle. "Agh! You had to not be lying on the bedcovers when I used them to get up, didn't you Norm? You just had to." Norman looked confused for a second, then gave Carter a sceptical look.

"Well why were you lying on the floor anyway? There's not much space there." Blake flushed red, and Jayden sighed.

"Oh for Christ's sakes Carter, I'm not going to bloody rape you! Anyway... you're not my type."

"I should bloody hope not!" Carter hissed. "Just... agh, get me some painkillers, will you?"

Jayden looked at him, and clambered down into the small space next to him. "What are you doing?" Carter hissed.

"I'm checking to see if you have a concussion. Your head made a pretty loud bang against that table, and you have one hell of a lump on your head. How many fingers do you see?"

"Three." Norman nodded.

"Now?"

"One." Norman nodded again.

"Now?"

"Agh, three, what are you...?"

"What's ten plus nine?" Jayden asked, ignoring him.

"Nineteen!" Carter said grumpily. His eyes widened as Jayden brought his face closer to his, and for a moment he thought he was going to kiss him, but he stopped just as his face was inches away from Carter's.

"...Carr, would you look at me please, I'm trying to check your pupils for signs of a concussion." Norman said gently. "I'm not going to snog you, don't worry."

"I..." Carter didn't know quite how to finish that sentence off._ He'd got that feeling again, of butterflies in his stomach. And he didn't have the excuse of being hungry this time... Shit. Shit! Was he attracted to another man? _Before he had the chance to follow this train of thought any longer, he felt Norman's hand on him, gently feeling the lump on his head. He stood up.

"Right, get in bed, I'll find you some painkillers. And for goodness' sake, don't fall over again!"

Carter's head hurt too much to argue, so he got into the bed, and shuffled over to where Jayden had been lying so he could get in when he came back with the painkillers. He settled down under the covers, more than slightly unnerved about his recent discovery. Norman came back into the room, handed him the painkillers with a glass of water, got in the bed, and went to sleep almost immediately. Carter wasn't sure what time he drifted off, but it was a long while after that.


	15. The Kiss

"Carr? ...Carter!"

"Hunh whaa?" Blake awoke to a familiar figure shaking him. _Jayden? Damn I wish he'd go 'way so I can continue on as normal._

"Carter, wake up so I can get up! I can't get past you when the room's this small, you're like some kind of... unmovable thing!"

"Neeugh." Carter said in reply, hardly half awake. _I wonder how far I can push the kid..._ he thought.

"Carter, we need to get up, Dad'll have a fit if we're not there at breakfast!" Blake smirked slightly, but Norman didn't notice, as Carter had started a very convincing snore. "Agh!" Norman fretted, and started prodding Carter to get him up. "Get up, you... you infuriating bloody lump!" After ten more minutes of Norman shaking him, Carter stretched and sat up, deciding he'd annoyed Jayden enough.

Unfortunately for him, Jayden had decided at the exact same moment to lean down to shake him again, and the two banged heads, right on the spot where Carter had hit his head last night.

"Agh! Shit!" Blake yelped.

"Oww!" Jayden groaned. "That really hurt, you silly ass! Were you just pretending to be asleep...?" he paused as he saw Blake clutching his head, and remembered the events of the last night. "Ah, crap, your head. Are you okay?" Norman placed his face close to Blake's again to check his forehead.

And Blake kissed him.


	16. The Realisation I Need a Cold Shower

_What the fuck am I doing?_ Thought Blake, but it was too late to stop now. _It had been an impulse a... God knows what, but he wasn't gay! He'd always been straight. He'd always been... Ohh shiz, Jayden was... ahh, did he know he was leaning there...?_

Norman nearly squeaked from the shock, but managed to keep it in. He was going to pull back from the kiss at first, but... but... Jayden racked his minds for a but, and couldn't find one. He was plenty justified to stop now, it wasn't that he was being polite, or sparing Carter's feelings, or anything like that... he reasoned it was just because he hadn't got laid in over three years.

_Not getting laid in three years doesn't make most people kiss their apparently straight best friend, the straightness of which is debatable. And it certainly doesn't make you get a raging hard-on._ The logical side of Norman's brain supplied. _Let's face it, you've fancied him for the best part of half a year..._ The logical side of his brain was however shunted to the side as Carter slid his tongue into his mouth. "Ohhh." Jayden moaned.

Carter suddenly snapped his eyes open, got off the bed (which had been Norman's intention in the first place), and ran into the bathroom, leaving Norman reeling. _Wh...Oh God, oh shit. I think I'm his non-straight wake-up call. _Norman thought._ And that's not good._

Meanwhile, Carter was having a mini-panic attack in the bathroom.

"Shit." he muttered under his breath. "Shit. I'm not gay, not gay, not gay, I'm... _I just kissed a guy!_" he muttered to himself, trying to ignore his protesting lower half. "Does that mean I'm attracted to guys? Or women? Or both... or... _aagh!"_ He turned the shower up to full heat, stripped, and got in it, deliberately not looking anywhere near his crotch. Too late he realised he'd left his clothes and towel in the bedroom... "_Fuck! _Fuck it..." _Never mind, he'd deal with that when it came to it. For now, he'd just clear his mind._

_ "_Norman?" his mother's voice came from up the stairs. "Are you alright up there? Your father rang the garage for your friend this morning, and they've picked the car up. They said it will probably take the rest of the day to put the tyres on as they have a big queue, but it should be easy enough. Your father said you could stay until your friend's car is fixed."

"Okay." Norman called back. "Thanks Mom." _That is if he is still my friend, and if he wants to get anywhere near me... _He got dressed, and trudged down the stairs for breakfast, putting on a happy face. _Why was he so bothered anyway? What did another lost friendship mean to him? _Irritatingly, the logical part of his thoughts butted in again. _Oh, Jeez, not this again. You've fancied him for the best part of a year, and you know you've a soft touch and a romantic. Let's face it, you're probably falling for him already..._

Norman hated it when he was right sometimes.

Eating his cooked breakfast alone in the kitchen, he buried his head in his hands, wondering if the situation could possibly get any more awkward. He scraped the last of the egg off his plate, and washed up the plate, when there was a knock at the door, and Carter yelled him simultaneously. _He really didn't want to speak to him right now..._ "I'll get the door Mom!" he yelled. Wiping his face, and running his fingers through his hair from stress, he opened the door, and blinked.

"Er... Hi Norm." said a very stressed, very pregnant-looking Anna clutching three kids.

"H...Hi."


	17. The Sister

Norman stood there in a daze for a minute, unsure if his day could get any more shitty, and trying to work out if, maybe, he was still asleep, and this was some kind of massive nightmare. Alas, no such luck.

"Erm... Norm?" Anna asked tentatively. "Can we... can we come in? The kids are getting cold." Jayden looked down at the kids, the oldest two girls looked about four, and the younger boy about two. They looked up at him, something resembling fear in their eyes. Concerned, Jayden opened the door wider to let them in. The kids flooded in through the door, and Anna followed close behind.

"**Norman!**" Carter yelled from upstairs. Norman winced at Anna's quizzical look, and went to go upstairs to see what Blake wanted.

"I'll be right back down." he said. "Make sure you don't trip over the..." But it was too late, Anna had already tripped over the new rug Jayden's father hadn't stuck down yet (mainly because she was craning her neck to see who was upstairs). Out of instinct, Norman grabbed her arm to stop her falling, and Anna yelped in pain and pulled her arm away. "Jeez! Sorry, are you okay?"

"I'm... fine." Jayden gave her a quizzical look, and rolled up her sleeve to find a purple bruise, and what appeared to be a cigarette burn on her arm. He narrowed his eyes, and looked up at her.

"Anna... did he do this to you?"

"I... Norm, please. If you insist I'll talk to you later, but at least let me leave the kids with Mom first." Jayden nodded, sure he should be feeling something like "I told you so", but only a strong feeling of resentment for whoever hurt his little sister was there.

"Fine." he said, crossing his arms. "But we _are _talking later."

In all the commotion, he had forgotten Blake had been calling him, and was only reminded as Carter walked halfway down the stairs, with only a hand towel covering his modesty.

"Norman!" he hissed. "Where the Hell did you put my clothes?"

Anna looked at the two of them, confused, tilted her head to one side, and hurriedly took the kids into the living room. Jayden blushed, averted his eyes from Carter's semi... well, more than semi-nakedness, and glared back at him.

"Thanks for that! Now she'll think I'm gay!"

"You _are_ bloody gay!"

"_That doesn't mean I want Dad knowing that!"_ Norman sighed, and tried to calm down. "I put them in the wash. They're nearly dry from being in the tumble, I'll give them to you when they're done."

"Norman, you little _prick_, that shirt was no tumble-dry!"

"Well do your own bloody washing then!" Jayden hissed back. _Great... They were having their first 'lovers' tiff', and they weren't even going out yet..._ He breathed out, and tried to calm down. Unfortunately, Carter didn't do the same.

"I would do if you hadn't bloody run off with my clothes! We're not a bloody item, _Jayden,_ you don't have to do my washing!"

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I fancy every sodding man in the universe!" Norman yelled back. "Anyway, you can talk, Mr Hypocritical-Snog-face!" Carter turned beetroot.

"_That's not even a word!_"

"Whatever!" Norman growled, and stalked off to get Carter's clothes so at least his stomach would stop fluttering when he looked at him. Hopefully...


	18. The Shrunken Shirt

"Oh shit..." Jayden groaned when he reached the tumbledrier. Carter's shirt was shrunk beyond repair. He brought the clothes out to Blake, looking rather sheepish, and handed him the shirt.

"Great." Carter said in a flat voice. "Thanks a lot. Now I'm going to have to walk around shirtless, and you're going to jump me."

He couldn't help it, Norman laughed out loud.

"_I'm _going to jump _you_? Sorry Carter, do you not appreciate the irony there? Last time I checked, _you_ were the one with the tongue down my throat!" Instead of exploding at that like Norman had thought he would, Carter coughed and looked pointedly behind Jayden's shoulder. Jayden turned round to see his sister looking accusingly at him.

"I was under the impression, or rather Dad was, that you're 'not gay'."

"Well what's it to you if I am? I mean, he's not my boyfriend if that's what you're thinking. You don't need to try and jump him." Norman snarled, perhaps a little too possessively. Anna glared at him, and stalked off into the living room.

Blake gave Jayden a look.

"So." he said conversationally. "You're a drug-user, a failed FBI agent, a bum, _and_ rude to pregnant women. Is that all your flaws, or are you going to tell me you're into screwing dogs?"

Jayden whipped round, and for a moment Carter thought he was going to punch him.

"_**Fuck you, Carter!**_ _You think you're so great, you think you're fucking irresistible? Yea, maybe I did have a drug problem, maybe I did completely and utterly fail at the only thing I was ever good at, yes, I am rude to pregnant women, or to be precise, my whorebag of a sister! But at least I'm not a psychopathic bastard with the personality of a rabid wolf!_" At this, Norman thundered off up the stairs, but not before Carter could have one last jibe.

"So... you do like screwing dogs."

"_**FUCK YOU!**_"

Carter grinned slightly to himself, then felt slightly guilty... H_e had been the one that had... initiated... _Stopping that train of thought as quickly as it had begun, Carter went back up to the bathroom to get dressed, then went downstairs again to fix himself something to eat.

He was just munching on his coffee and toast when he heard the faint muffled sound of crying from the living room. Downing the coffee and finishing the toast, he dumped the dirties in the sink (which Norman's father wouldn't have been pleased about...), and went to investigate the sobbing.


	19. The Children

Carter walked into the living room to find Norman's sister hiding behind the sofa, peering out the window, and crying. He blinked, unsure what was going on, and cleared his throat. She jumped when she heard him, and stopped crying.

"Oh... I thought you were Mum or Dad." she said, making no attempt to get up from behind the sofa. She burst into tears again, and Blake stood there, feeling awkward.

_Great... A crying pregnant moody woman downstairs, and an angry moody guy upstairs._ He sighed. _He hated being the good Samaritan... _

"Come on then. What's up. And what's with hiding behind the sofa?"

"I... I... oh _shit_ he's coming in! I... please just... look I'm sorry for what I said to Norman, but please... can Norm and you take the kids out for a bit?"

Carter looked confused, and started to shake his head, but she must have sensed what he was going to say, and upped the crying a bit. "I don't want them to get hurt! He'll be really angry with me... Please! You don't know what it's like for them to have an abusive father..."

"Wait..." Carter growled (he hadn't seen the bruises on Anna's arm yet) "He hits them?"

"_For the love of God, take the kids! He'll be calmer that way!"_ Blake growled and twitched slightly, but curtly nodded.

"Fine."

"Take Norman. No offence, but I've never met you." He made a noise, a mixture of a growl and a gruff strangled snort.

"Whatever lady. Fine, I'll take your kids. Just hold him off for a bit so I can get Norman and the kids out the back way. And don't blame me if one of them gets squashed."

Meanwhile, Norman was having problems of his own upstairs. Grabbing tightly onto the sink, he splashed water onto his face in an effort to combat the withdrawal symptoms, which wasn't helping as much as he'd like it to.

_At least his nose wasn't bleeding. ...Yet, anyway. _

Jayden turned off the taps, and wobbled out of the bathroom trying to appear nonchalant, the effect of which was kind of ruined when he bumped into the bannister and nearly fell down the stairs. He walked down the steps as slowly as he could, and got about halfway before Carter charged up the stairs and bumped into him.

"Ow! Carter, are you trying to kill me?" Norman yelped, his words ringing in his ears slightly and stumbling as the withdrawals took their toll. Carter steadied him, and garbled something about kids that Norman didn't quite catch with the ringing in his ears. "Wha' did you say?" Jayden slurred.

Carter sighed, and half-pulled, half-dragged him down the stairs, ran through the kitchen, catching a glimpse of Anna keeping the door shut and pretending she hadn't heard David knocking, and finally start to open it as they left out of sight. Fortunately, Eric and Linda were somewhat slow on their feet, else it would have made a rather odd sight. Gathering up children left, right, and centre (it seemed Anna hadn't taught them 'stranger danger'), Jayden and Blake quietly left via the back garden until all the fuss died down.


	20. The Kiss Mk II

Three bored and whiney kids, a half-hearted attempt at the playpark, and an hour later, Carter buried his head in his hands as Norman tried to hide from the kids for the second time that he was throwing up in the bushes.

_That sodding car better be fixed pretty soon..._

As a pasty Jayden staggered over to sit by Blake, Carter sighed. "Hey. Norm. Reckon we should start heading back now, yea?" Norman nodded, trying to keep the rising bile in his throat down.

"Yea, erm..." he coughed. "Hopefully he's calmed down by now. I mean, I'd deck him one myself, but..."

"But you'd probably only succeed throwing up on him and collapsing." Carter finished for him. "Yea. Fair point." They stood up, gathered up the kids from the various swings and slides, and started to walk back to the house. The kids, especially the older girls, were rather wary around them, and flinched when they came near.

"I never even knew I had nieces and nephews until a couple days ago." Jayden mused out loud. I mean... Anna must've been pregnant before David left me. Makes you think, doesn't it... I wonder if they've ever met a man who doesn't hit them." Carter felt a surge of jealousy at the mention of David's name, and the question that had been niggling at the back of his mind for a while finally popped out.

"I'm no criminal profiler, but I know enough of... people to see that violent behaviour doesn't just come out of nowhere." Carter said, an odd lilt in his voice. "What about when you and him were together?" Jayden kept his voice neutral.

"What are you asking, Cartah?" Carter could almost have smiled but for the seriousness of the situation, Norman's accent always got thicker when he was angry, or upset.

_I wonder if it does when he's happy as well..._ He cleared his throat. "I'm asking if he ever hit you, Norman." Jayden stiffened slightly and turned his head to one side, which Carter didn't miss. "I'll take that as a yes then." Jayden turned to look at him, green eyes blazing.

"What would you _care_, Cartah? You're the one that threatened to fucking _shoot me_ when you were '_interrogating' _or should I say '_beating the shit out of'_ Ethan Mars! A few bruises, a sprained wrist, attempted rape, how would any of those things even come close to if your finger had slipped and you'd shot me in the head? Does it matter, Cartah? So David's a whore, a slut, probably a fully fledged rapist by now, a woman and child beater, and a damned scumbag. Why do you care? What do either I or my family matter to you?"

"Jayden, fuck off and take the kids to the park." Carter replied in a dangerous voice.

"What? What the fuck are you on about? Why should I?" Carter checked the kids' eyes were elsewhere, then grabbed Norman by either arm, and kissed him full on the mouth.

"Just do it." he said, and ran off towards the house.

Jayden did as he was told in a daze.


	21. The Punch up

As Carter got closer to the house, sounds of a struggle were audible, even from outside. Sprinting the last few metres, he forced open the back door, and burst into the kitchen to find Norman's father on the floor clutching his leg, Norman's mother with the phone in her hand, presumably ringing 911, and Anna with a tall stocky blond man's hands around her throat.

He would have thrown himself at the wife-beater immediately, but Anna blocked his way, and besides... this way he could really get his point across, hopefully without Anna or her unborn child being hurt.

"Hey! Cumbag! You going to leave the lady alone and pick on someone your own size?"

David turned around, and glared at Carter. He was obviously off his face on drugs, or alcohol. Possibly both...

"Who th' Hell'r you meant to be?" he growled.

"I'm your wake up call, buddy. You're not big, and you're not clever. And stop kidding yourself that just because you knocked her up a few times you're anything other than a pathetic homo. And not the good kind either."

"Oh yea? I think my sex'yality, and wha' I do to my wife is my own business. Anyway... There's not a good kind. All queers should go to Hell... you included."

Carter noted he'd let go of Anna, and was sizing him up.

"You're a good little Christian, then are you? Well I'm pretty sure it says "Love thy neighbour" in the Bible, not "Rape and beat your wife." Anyway... I have it under good authority you take it up the ass anyway." David sneered.

"Who tol' you that? Norman? That's all in the past now. I was only ever fucking with the little shit anyway. I never liked him, let alone loved him. Just a little fuck-toy. All he ever was, all he ever will be. All he's good for."

At that, Carter flew at him, aiming a fist at his chin, and connecting hand against face a second later.

"You dare!" he growled. "You fucking dare. He's gone through more than you'll ever know, helped save a little boy's life. He's worth twenty of you, he's more than you'll ever be!" Carter yelled, punctuating each sentence with several punches. "You fucking get out of this house, you leave this place, you leave your wife alone, you leave Norman and this family, you up and leave, and you never come back. Because if you do... I'll be waiting. And I promise you now, I'll fucking kill you."

By now, David was a mass of blood and bruises. Getting up as quick as he could, he raised his hands in surrender, which didn't stop Carter landing one more punch.

"**Aghh! You queer!**" he yelped through mouthfuls of blood and a broken noise. "**You'll fucking pay for that, you bastard!**" he yelled, and punched Carter in the face.

Carter's head reeled back from the impact, but he quickly recovered, and slammed his fist into the other man's stomach. The two tussled for several more minutes, backing into the hallway, seemingly neither of them gaining the upper hand.

Suddenly, David tripped over the rug, and went flying, sending Carter landing on top of him. The younger man had the air knocked out of him, and Carter quickly took advantage of this fact, dragged him up by his neck, and threw him out of the front door of the house.

"Don't you _ever_ bother anyone here again!"


	22. The Seventy five Kilo Weight

Norman turned back to the kids, to find one of the girls smiling sadly at him.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" he asked.

"I'm okay." she said quietly. "I just wish Daddy loved Mommy like that." Norman blinked.

"...I." _Jesus, give it up Norman. Sure, he isn't your normal type, that's true enough. But... there's no point denying it. You've fallen for him. And he doesn't feel it back._

"So do I, Sweetie." he said, meaning every word, though about quite what he wasn't sure. "So do I."

It seemed like they'd been to every park within a two mile radius now, and the kids were getting grizzly. Jayden was carrying the youngest boy, and the two girls were lagging behind, although he made sure to keep an eye on them. _Don't want another origami case... _He shuddered at the thought. He'd planned to keep in contact with Shaun Mars, send him a get well soon card and that, but after he'd resigned hadn't seen much point. After all, he wasn't exactly a good role-model... Poor kid. The only survivor of the Origami Killer, and whatever Carter said, it probably wasn't thanks to him.

Jayden shook his head to clear his thoughts... Hiding in the past wouldn't solve anything. It was probably time to take the kids home now.

After a while, they neared the house, and Norman paused at the sounds coming from inside, and dragged the kids back. _What the Hell is going on in there? _He turned to the two older girls, and knelt down to their height.

"I'm sorry girls, I don't know you or your brother's names. I'm Norman." The girl he had spoken to before hesitated, but then obviously decided she could trust him.

"I'm Amie Linda, my sister's Lucy May, and my brother is Norman Andrew." Jayden blinked.

_She named her son after me?_ "Right. Okay Amie and Lucie, please could you watch your little brother. And if anyone comes up to you, you tell them I'm just in that house, and they do anything you don't like, you scream. As loud as you can. And don't worry, I'll be back soon. Okay?"

The young girl looked confused, but nodded.

"Okay."

Norman walked up to the door, and listened at it for a while, picking up fractured bits of conversation.

"...ea? I think my sex'yality ... do to my wife is my own business. ...re's not a good kind. All queers should go to Hell... you..."

"ood little Chris... you? Well I'm pretty sure ….our" in the Bible... beat your wife." Anyway... I have it under ... you ...up the ass anyway."

Norman growled at not being able to hear anything other than bits and pieces, and cupped his hand to the door to hear better. It didn't sound like blows were being exchanged. At the moment, anyway.

"...Norman? That's all in the past … only ever fucking with the little shit anyway. ….ed him, let alone loved him. Just a little fuck-toy. All he ever was, ...ever will be. All he's good for."

"Thanks..." Murmured Norman under his breath, and was dismayed to realise that that still hurt, even after all these years. He put his ear and cupped hands back to the door again.

"You fucking dare. He's ...you'll ever know, helped save a little boy's life. He's worth twenty of you...ore than you'll ever be!" Carter yelled, punctuating each sentence with several punches. "You fucking get out of this house, you leave ...eave your wife alone, you leave Norman and this family, you up an... you never come back. ...ou do... I'll be waiting. And I promise you now, I'll fucking kill you."

_Shit... they've started fighting in there... I don't want to leave the kids alone for too long though... I'd better check on them then I'll be right back._

Norman sprinted down the steps and along the road to where he'd left the kids. _They were still there, good. You couldn't be too careful._

"You okay kids?" he shouted. One of the girls, he wasn't sure whether it was Amie or Lucy, nodded. "I'll be about five minutes, okay? Keep looking after your brother."

He ran back to the door and listened once more, deciding if they were still struggling he'd burst in and try to help Carter, withdrawal symptoms or no withdrawal symptoms.

"_Ever_ bother anyone here again!"

At that, the door opened, and seventy-five kilograms of ex-boyfriend landed on top of him.


	23. The Awkward Moment

Norman sat in the lounge with the family, slightly traumatised, but otherwise none the worse for wear. His father sat in the single chair, as far away from him as possible as he could get,his mother in the easy recliner, and Carter on the sofa next to him. Anna and the kids were upstairs, asleep in the kingsize, which Norman and Carter hadn't thought they'd need, due to the fact the car was supposed to be fixed today. It wasn't.

Jayden became aware that his Mom was speaking to him.

"Okay dear? The pillows, duvet, and duvet cover are in the corner, you'll have to pump up the air bed. We'll clear off in a bit and leave you to sleep, but your father and I just want to watch this DVD Jackie and Glenn lent us last time they came round. 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' – they got it from England in their trip around the world." Norman nodded, half in a trance.

"Okay Mom."

Linda wheeled herself over to the DVD player and inserted the disk. The television flickered, and a Victorian room showed up on the gogglebox, to the sounds of Electric Six, and a song that Norman _really_ didn't want to hear right now.

"Oh no..." he moaned under his breath, and hid his head in his hands, as Mitchell (or was it Webb?) starting singing.

_I want to take you to a Gay Bar... Gay Bar Gay Bar Gay Bar! _

There was a strangled sound as Norman's dad choked on his drink, Norman's mom burst into laughter, and Carter started twitching slightly.

_I've got something to put in you, at the Gay Bar Gay Bar Ga..._

Jayden jumped up and grabbed the remote off his mom, switching it off.

"Tired now, need to go to sleep, Goodnight!" he gabbled, turning off the television and grabbing the duvet to put the cover on.

Still laughing, Norman's mom left the room, beckoning his dad to come with her.


	24. The Briefs

Blake watched as Jayden quickly put the duvet cover on, and starting pumping up the airbed. Quietly, he picked up the pillows and shoved them haphazardly into the pillowcases.

"Norman, the airbed..."

"Don't, Cartah. Just don't. It's been a Hell 'f a day, and frankly I don't care whether you want to sleep next to me or not. Just... Do what you want, but please don't argue with me about it." Carter raised an eyebrow.

"...Has a leak in it." he finished. Norman's ears reddened slightly. _Cute... Wait, what? He's a __**guy**__, Carter. You two shouldn't even be friends, much less... Whatever. Just not cute. Just... no._

Blake realised Norman was talking, and tuned back in.

"...Tired. Sorry."

"It's fine." said Carter, amicable for once. "Are you getting to bed, or what?"

"Hmm? Yea. Have I got any pajamas tonight... I'll take that face as a no then?" Norman said, smiling slightly. Okay. Sleep in the skanky briefs again, I guess."

Carter snorted slightly, and Norman glared at him. "What?"

"Briefs. They're crap."

"You have to fucking pick holes in absolutely _everything_, don't you, Cartah? What I say, what I do, who I fuck, and now the underwear I choose. Christ's sake! Well, for your information, I got these from the homelessness shelter. Not all of us can even choose what clothes we wear, you know!" Norman glared at him and stalked off into the kitchen to get changed. Carter grinned, and started to change into his pajamas ready for bed.

He'd already fallen asleep by the time Norman got back, which Norman was rather glad about. He got under the covers, and went to sleep.


	25. The Hell of a Morning

Most days, as soon as day broke, Carter was usually up and awake. Today was no exception. He came to slowly, as always away from home it took him a while to figure out where he was. As his senses came back to him, he yawned and turned over slightly irritably.

Jayden mumbled something under his breath, still asleep. Wishing he could stay asleep as long as the ex-agent, Blake turned over to look at him for want of a better thing to do.

_He looks peaceful whilst asleep... About the only time I've seen him look happy. _Wondering if he could doze off for another hour or so, Blake closed his eyes. Something moved on the bottom of his stomach. His eyes snapped open. _The fuck was that?_ He wasn't sure whether to ignore it, but it moved again. _Shit, what if it's a rat... or a snake. Do they have any small pets in this house?_ Moving slowly so as not to annoy whatever it was, Blake lifted the covers to vermin-check.

"Nrrp.." Blake said under his breath. There wasn't any small animal in the bed, but possibly this was worse... Jayden had a hard-on.

Staring for several seconds longer than necessary, Carter quickly looked up at Jayden's face, to see if this was a trick, maybe he'd planned it. He was asleep. _Just forget it, Carter. Pretend it never happened, and go back to sleep. Hopefully you'll forget it in the morning. _All set to take his own advice, he lay down and faced Jayden, just in case any funny business were to ensue. He closed his eyes, hoping sleep would claim him soon.

Jayden murmured in his sleep again, and the other man opened one eye... just in case he tried anything.

"Ummmhh..." Jayden breathed, and if he hadn't have been asleep Carter would have been out of that bed in the blink of an eye.

_Shit..is he... is he having a... gay sex dream? _Trying to persuade himself that Norman wasn't, and he just had a blocked nose or something, Carter's fears intensified as the younger man groaned in his sleep.

"Ohhhh... Ohhh shit..."

_He's asleep, it's okay, he doesn't fancy you, it's okay, he said you're not his type, it's okay, you're not gay, you don't need to worry, you don't need to... why is this so fucking hot? I... shit did I just __**think**__ that? Ah crap..._

Carter's train of thought was interrupted by a stirring in his groin, and he groaned, partly in arousal, partly in horror, as he realised he was getting hard. Before he could dwell on this, the man lying next to him made matters worse.

_"Ohh God... Cartah!" _Jayden yelped. Blake groaned out loud, and his hand crept down to his growing length.

_I want that... that man. Shit... I'm queer. Fuck it, I don't give a damn, it's not like I'm in Philadelphia... no-one can see._

Blake gave in to what he'd been feeling the last few weeks, alien as it was to him.

Leaning over Jayden, and clamping his mouth over the other man's, who woke up with a start, he initiated an aggressive kiss,into which Norman melted. Norman slipped his tongue into his mouth,and ran it over his. Carter groaned, and bit Norman's lip none-too gently. Mouths meshing together, and tongues moulding to each others' mouths, eventually Norman broke off the kiss to come up for air. He looked at Carter, eyes bleary with sleep and lust, brown hair ruffled, and his lips parted, aflame from the kiss.

"What was that about?" he murmured into Carter's mouth.

"What I said about briefs being crap last night... Maybe you don't need to wear them..."


	26. The Power Struggle

Norman almost paused, unsure if Carter was having him on. But then Carter's hand crept down his body, and all thoughts of that were forgotten.

_God, it's been so long... So he doesn't love you. Who cares... Maybe you can show him that you care for him._

The two men joined at the mouth again, and this time Jayden's hands started to explore the older man's body, undoing the buttons of the pajama shirt. He slipped his hands under the material, and shrugged the shirt off Carter's shoulders. Norman groaned as Carter moved from his mouth to his ear, biting at his earlobe.

In response, Norman drew a line with his tongue down the back of Blake's neck,at the same time sliding his hand slowly down Carter's body, stopping just short of his groin. Carter growled deep in his throat, and pushed Norman to the floor, pressing his erection up against the other man's, eliciting a moan from the pale chocolate-locked ex-agent pinned underneath him. Pinning Jayden's arms above his head, Carter took one of his nipples in his mouth and bit it.

"Fah-uhk!" Norman gasped. "Jesus Carter, that..."

His protests were silenced as Carter slid one hand underneath his briefs, and ran his finger over his cockhead.

"...Yes?" Blake smirked. Norman looked at him.

"Ahh... never mind."

They started to kiss again, tongues dancing in each others' mouths, and before Carter could complain Norman turned them over so the younger man was on top, and Carter was on his front.

"The fuck, Norman?" Carter hissed, trying to get the other man off him. Annoyed, Norman pushed back, the two of them at stalemate.

"_Norman, get off! I am __**not**__..."_

"I don't care what you are not, cause if you'd listen what _I_ am not is going to force you to have sex." Jayden hissed back. "Now, you weren't complaining when we did all that other stuff earlier, and one thing I'm not is a bloody rapist, so do you want to finish up, or calm down, and let me make you feel good?"

Tension hung in the air, and then Blake did the unthinkable – submitted to the other man. ...Kind of.

"Whatever Norm." Carter grumbled. "It's not like you'd manage to pin me down anyway, so... whatever." Norman smirked.

_Round one to me..._

Pushing Carter down again slightly, Norman pulled down Carter's pajama trousers, and pulled him into a seating position.

"Well what the fuck was the point in getting me to lie down?" Carter grumbled.

"I wanted to see what you'd do." Norman smirked.

"Screw you, Jayden." Carter shot back.

"I rather thought that was the intention..." Before Carter could take charge again, Jayden bobbed down, and took Blake's erection in his mouth, causing the older man to moan, entwining his fingers into the other man's hair.

_Creak._

Norman jumped.

"What was that?" he hissed. Carter growled irritably.

"I didn't hear anything. What was what?"

Norman shrugged and was going to carry on, when the door opened.

"Shit..."


	27. The Homophobic

Norman's father stood in the doorway, staring at the two of them, slowly turning purple from anger. Carter turned bright red and threw himself away from Norman, grabbing the pajamas and exiting via the kitchen.

"What," Eric growled, "In **Hell's** name do you think you are doing?" Norman's face coloured, and the tips of his ears burned bright red.

"Dad, I..."

"What happened to 'not being homosexual'? And don't call me your father, I'm no such thing! You're a... you're a bloody abomination!"

He opened the front door, and pointed out of it. "Get. Out. And your faggot friend, too. The two of you can... do whatever your sort do whenever you like, but you're not my son, and you're not doing it in _my house!_"

Tears of anger clouded Norman's vision, and he felt the shakes start to come on again. "I _am_ your son! Whether you like it or not, _Dad,_ you conceived an _abomination,_ as you so delightfully put it! And he's not a 'faggot', I don't know what his sexuality is, but he's my friend, and... and I _love_ him, alright? I know he doesn't feel the same, and I'm not going to say I don't care, because I do. But don't you fucking yell at me for my sexuality, maybe you should look at your daughter, who's got a fucking _rapist_ for a husband!" Breathing heavily, Norman looked round for Carter, only to see Anna coming down the stairs, a panicked look on her face.

"_Norman's not in the house! He's missing!"_

_ "_I...I'm right here." Norman said, pressing a hand to the ache beginning to throb in his temples. He wobbled slightly on his feet. "What do you want anyway?"

Anna seemed to not notice the fact Norman didn't have any pants on, or the fact that her father was an unhealthy shade of puce, and screeched back at him,

"Not _you!_ Norman, my baby... he's missing!"


	28. Revelations, Regrets, and Secrets

Carter slammed the downstairs bathroom door behind him, shoving on the pajamas as fast as he could.

_... Shit... __**Shit!**__ What the fuck did I think I was doing? First of all you... you kiss him, then...then. Agh!_

Shaking his head violently and hoping perhaps this was all some bizarre and wrong dream, Carter started running the taps, and splashed his face with copious amounts of water. His face dripping droplets off water off his beard, and onto the pajama shirt, he slowly slid down the wall to land on the floor, fists clenched.

_He couldn't remember when he's last been out of control like that... There was sex, sure. His job did leave time for that, albeit only ever one night stands. Which were all he'd ever wanted. He doubted any woman would put up with his temper or the long hours he worked. But he was always in control, never wanted, __**needed**__ anyone or anything like this. It was out of character... And he had to admit, this scared him more than any damn serial killer ever could._

Words caught his attention, filtering through the wall as he leant against it.

"...enever you like, but you're not my son, and you're not doing it in _my house!_"

I _am_ your son! Whether you like it or not, _Dad... ...omination,_ as you so delightfully put it!"

_Fuck... what the Hell was I thinking... _Carter clenched his fists even tighter, and listened harder.

"uality is, but he's my friend, and... and I _love_ him, alright?"

Carter almost stopped breathing at that. "_He fucking what?"_

That was it. That was just too much. Grabbing a pair of Norman's father's trousers out of the washing basket (which were slightly too big), and a shirt off the towel rail, (which the collar was too tight), Carter got dressed, clambered onto the toilet, unlatched the window, and started clambering his way to freedom and the garage his car was being held at.

Meanwhile, in the lounge, Norman's father seemed at danger of exploding.

"Anna, not _now_, I'm trying to get your _brother_ out of the house." Eric hissed.

"Oh for **fuck's** sake Dad! Have you not let the fact he's gay go yet? It's not that fucking uncommon you know!"

"_Not that uncommon? He's a bloody..."_

"Abomination? Whatever. I guess you're entitled to your opinion about _your own son_. Right now, _my son_, who I care about a Hell of a lot more than you _ever_ cared about us, is not in the fucking house. Now are you going to let my son get into danger because of your bigoted issues, or are you actually going to _fucking help?"_

"I... fine. But as soon as we get back, he's gone or I'm calling the police."

"For fuck's sake, I'm presuming all he's done is have sex, which is hardly a crime. Anyway, if you're that bothered, maybe you should ask Mom about her college days!"

Norman's father blinked, mouth gaping open.

"Yea. See? Now stop gay-bashing poor Norm and call the fucking police!"


	29. Law Enforcers and Lies

Half an hour later, the police were at the house, and Carter was fumbling with the keys to his car, and wondering whether it was really a good idea to drive at the moment.

_Fuck it... Got to get away from here. Got to get away from him... Shit. Shit! What the Hell was I thinking? What... What if the station get a hold of this? Shit. Shitshitshit._

Finally getting the key in the lock, Carter sat down heavily in the driver's seat, and started to drive the long trek home, only to get stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of Boston.

"The _fuck _is going on now? Fucking assholes!"

Norman, Anna, two policemen, and Norman's mother and father sat in the living room, the other two children upstairs.

"So when did you last see Norman?" One of the policemen asked Anna.

"Umm... probably about eleven o' clock. Or possibly nine... I put him to bed about nine, but when I came in this morning, the sheets were piled under his sleeping bag to look like he was still there..." she replied, wringing her hands. "He's only a young child! He... would he think to do that?"

The two policemen looked at each other, carefully keeping their expressions blank.

_Well that's not good._ Thought Norman.

"'Ma'am, it's a distinct possibility he's wandered off, to go on an adventure. Nevertheless, we'll keep an eye out for him. We really couldn't say either way at the moment, it would be hard to tell..."

"The truth?" Butted in Norman.

"Sir?" queried the other policeman, thinly concealing an expression of distaste. "We are telling you all we know, at this stage..."

"Except you're not, are you?" Norman said coldly. "What exactly are you hiding?"

"Sir, I can tell you on a policeman's oath that..."

"No offence. But a policeman's oath means nothing. The name's Nahmen Jayden. Ex FBI. I have plenty of experience working with police, used to be a profiler, and I know you're not telling us something. And don't think saying nothing works either, it's all on the grapevine. I've heard things you know. Now are you going to tell us what you're hiding, or do I need to find out myself?"

"Norman Jayden?" A voice crackled over the radio. "Isn't he the one who..." The police officer quickly turned the radio down.

"Well, it's not common knowledge at the moment. But... Children have been going missing. Mainly from underprivileged areas, though it's been getting more varied lately. Conveniently, the other officer's pager beeped.

"Hmm, fire down the other end of Boston. I'm sorry Ma'am, Sir. We're going to have to get that. Rest assured, your son will be in the capable hands of the Boston Police." With that, they rushed out of the door.

Norman turned to Anna, eyes narrowed. "Did they say..."

"Your name? Yes."

Norman's mother nodded also, Norman's Dad didn't because he was glaring daggers at her.

"Honey, what's going on?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it doesn't look good."


	30. A Drive and a Dream

"Norm, you said you heard things on the grapevine." Anna said urgently. "When you were in the FBI. What have you heard? Is it... will it help us find Norman?" Jayden shook his head.

"Not when I was in the FBI. While I was on the streets. Teenagers and homeless kids were going missing off the streets. It's just a few, you know, enough that we all thought they'd just been beaten up, or found a house, or moved territory. But... Maybe it was something more. I'm not saying it was, just..." He paused and gulped in some air, trying to calm the tremors that were threatening to engulf him. "Just there were rumours."

"What kind of rumours?" His sister whispered hoarshly.

"Keep in mind they're probably not true..."

"Norman, _what are the rumours?_"

"...There's a possibility that someone is kidnapping a large number of kids." Anna's eyes widened, and she let out a whimper.

"**You mean someone's **_**stolen**_** my baby?**"

"Not necessarily, it's unlikely that..."

"_It's unlikely? Then where the Hell has he gone, Norman?"_ Anna burst into tears, and ran upstairs.

Meanwhile, Carter was almost home. He pulled up outside the house in his driveway, slammed the car door shut, and went into the house. Throwing himself down onto the couch, he turned on the TV, flicking aimlessly through the channels, trying in vain to find anything decent. After a half hour of channel surfing, he threw down the remote with an irritated noise, Making his way into the kitchen, Carter shoved a microwave meal in to cook, and grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. As soon as the microwave oven pinged, he ripped the packet open, went over to the couch, and started eating.

_How am I going to explain the time I've had off when I get into work... It's not like I can tell the truth... 'I was at my least-favourite ex-FBI agent's Mom's house, receiving a handjob... _Blake shuddered at the thought. _That definitely wouldn't go down well. He should have rung in sick to work while he was at Norman's. Never mind, he'd have to think something up tomorrow._ Carter shoved the ready meal wrapper in the bin, drained the rest of the beer in one gulp, and trudged upstairs. Pulling his shirt off and throwing himself into bed, he lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, he went to sleep.

His eyes snapping open with a jolt, Carter gasped at the carnage around him. There was blood everywhere... He was covered in it. There was so much. Standing up slowly, checking his body and finding nothing broken or torn, he followed the line of blood in a daze, it seemed to stretch out for miles. There were bodies, corpses everywhere, and they were covered in blood, dark red, and shining in the moonlight. As if in a trance, he followed the trail of human life, dreading who or what he'd find at the end. Small, broken bodies lay on the floor, contorted in death's final embrace, and Carter fought the urge to throw up. He reached a door, white but with bloody hand marks printed on the door and the handle. Reaching out to open it, he paused as a voice echoed from inside.

"Don't... Don't do this." Carter's head swam.

_Was that Norman? _He blanked out the rest of the conversation, unsure of what this meant. _What was happening? ...Why did he care, come to think of it? What did Norman's issues matter to him?_ The drone of another voice brought him out of his thoughts, and before he could register the hint of anger in the tone of voice,a gunshot.

The door opened, and Carter stood there, staring, not comprehending the view that stood, or rather laid, before him – Norman lay unmoving in a pool of his own blood.

The scene cut out, and a blank white room stood before him, but he didn't pay much attention to that, as a wave of pure uncut pleasure washed over him. Carter tried to scream, but no sound came out. Looking round, he nearly passed out at the sight of Norman above him, but before he could say a word, his prostate was assaulted again, and he let out a very un-manly whimper. He gasped as Jayden's hand found it way around his length, and gently, almost lovingly, caressed him. Rubbing a thumb over the head of his dick, causing it to weep drops of pre-cum, Norman simultaneously bent down and bit Carter's earlobe.

"Feel good, Cartah?" Blake only moaned in reply. "I didn't hear you Cartah. Whut was th't?" Jayden ended his sentence with a thrust, earning a muffled cry from Blake.

"Ahh...Ahuhh..."

"Speak up, Blake." Norman teased. "I..." Thrust. "Can't..." Thrust. "Hear..." Bite. "You..." Sweating as he brought himself under some semblance of control, Norman stopped moving inside Blake completely, then pulled out. Carter whimpered, totally overcome by the want, the _need_ to feel that pleasure spot touched again, and was ashamed to hear the words come out of his mouth, but then they were spoken and there was no taking them back.

"...Please."

"Please whut, Cartah?"

"Norman..."

"Whut do you want?" Norman asked, perfectly pleasantly, as if he was partaking in a polite conversation, and not fucking the brains out of his uptight ex-colleague.

"_Fuck me._" he whispered, barely audible. He didn't know if he could say it again, neither his pride or his ego would take it. Fortunately Norman seemed to realise that, and leaned in close to his ear, pressing his mouth against it, biting his earlobe.

"Yes, Ser." Biting hard enough to draw blood, Jayden slammed himself into Carter, crying out as he did, but Carter was lost in his own ecstasy, _unable to think, unable to move, unable to breathe_, and just as Jayden spilled his seed deep within Carter's body, he pressed his thumb over Carter's slit, and he came. Norman's hand milked his cock, coaxing every last drop out of him...

And Carter woke up to the feeling of wet sheets, and the beginnings of another hard-on already...


	31. Doorways and Danger

"Lieutenant, I don't care if you were on the _moon_! If you're not going to be in the station, I expect a phone call. Got it?" Blake nodded curtly and turned to leave the room. But not before Perry could have one more dig. "This isn't like you, Blake. You're behaving like that asshole from last year – what was his name?"

"You mean Norman?" Carter muttered, irritated that everyone picked now to bring him up.

"Was that his name? Uppity little shit. Anyway – make sure you don't go the same way." Carter grunted, and closed the door behind him.

Ash turned to look at him – he'd obviously been listening in. He grinned, seemingly finding the whole situation funny.

"What?" Carter snapped, glaring at him. Ash held up his hands in surrender. Unfortunately he carried on talking.

"Nothing, nothing... Don't worry about it. I just thought it was funny listening to you being compared to a faggot. One who accused you of being the Origami Killer – little harsh there from Perry. I mean, killer, perhaps. Faggot, never." Carter flushed red at this half-hearted attempt from Ash to defuse the situation with humour. _Thank God he didn't know..._

"Fuck off, Ash." he growled, and Ash laughed.

"Whatever, Carter. I'll leave you be now... even I know when not to bait a bear."

"Dad... I don't have anywhere else to go."

"I don't care, Norman! And I've told you before, I'm not your father. Bad things only happen when you're around." Norman's eyes flashed.

"Fine. It's your house, it's not like you can't decide who stays here and who doesn't. But I'm telling you now, you _are_ my father. You bred me, even if you don't like to admit it. But you know what? I wish you weren't. And don't worry. I won't bother you again." Norman turned to walk away, and his father slammed the door behind him.

In a daze, unsure what was going on any more over these past few weeks, he wandered across town to his usual doorway, which happened to be occupied... Ah well, what difference would one more change make anyway...

It seemed one more change, however small, could make a hell of a difference. Sat next to a coffee shop doorway as his new haunt, Norman had already got some leads. And pretty damn cold, compared to his last doorway. As a profiler, he made it a habit to listen in to conversations, and once again it had come in handy. Huddled up against the cold, he'd covertly eyed up two bulky men, at first only mildly interested for the sake of it, but then they'd said something interesting.

"Take him to the warehouse with the others. We're going to move them later on."

"Right." The other guy looked around him shadily, obviously neither of them had noticed Norman there. "Which one?" he asked Shady Guy Number One, once he had satisfied himself that no-one was around.

"The one near the docks, moron. That's the main one we're using at the moment. Now split, before someone sees us." The two of them walked off in opposite directions, and Norman got the uneasy feeling he may have found little Norman. Or at least, know the whereabouts of him a little later... What he'd give for a gun.


End file.
